BENNINGTON — A local 84-year-old man was critically injured in a crash on Carpenter Hill Road about 5:40 p.m. Tuesday, according to Lt. Lloyd Dean of the Bennington Police Department.

Felix R. Lecours, 84, of Bennington, was driving a Ford F250 pickup truck that crashed into a tractor, police said.

Lecours was not wearing a seat belt and needed to be extricated from the truck with the jaws-of-life extrication tools. He was taken to the Southwestern Vermont Medical Center in Bennington and then flown to the Albany (N.Y.) Medical Center with critical, life threatening injuries, Dean said.

After a preliminary investigation, police believe Lecours was driving north on Carpenter Hill Road from Pownal into Bennington.

As he approached the first 90 degree curve in the road he continued to drive straight with the left front of his truck hitting a Kobota farm tractor, driven by Lewis Garnett, 51 of Bennington

Garnett was driving the tractor south on Carpenter Hill, pulling a trailer of dirt. Andrew Martin, 57, was a passenger on the trailer.

On impact, the pick-up truck was flipped onto the passenger side and slid to a stop. The left rear tire was torn away from the tractor,

Dean said Garnett and Martin both suffered injuries but the injuries were not considered life-threatening. Both were taken to SVMC for treatment.

Garnett, who was wearing his seat belt, was taken to the hospital by the Bennington Rescue Squad while Martin, who was thrown from the dirt trailer, was taken to the hospital by his employer.

Response at the scene was hampered by an excessive amount of oil leaked onto the pavement from both vehicles, Dean said.

The crash is being investigated by Officer Roscoe Harrington, of the Bennington Police Department. Members of the Bennington Rural Fire Department also responded to the scene.